Meant to Be

Chapter 4

"Why did you stay behind?" I asked even though I was there this morning when she got the letter.

I was just making small talk and I didn't like the way she was looking at me.

"I had to fill out the paperwork for the new dragon we are getting. We thought he was coming on the 30th but he's arriving in three days." She sounded so excited. It made me want to be there when they receive him even more. "I feel bad for miscalculating, though." She exhaled.

"What do you mean?" I gave her a cup of tea.

"Thank you." She smiled and put the cup to her lips. "I already finished and I know they left two hours ago but now I wish I just went with them and would stay up late and fill out the forms then."

"I have plenty of reports to finish. You can help me."

Why did I say that?

I just wanted to make her feel less guilty for staying behind but the idea sounded way better in my head. I didn't want her to be here. It would be better if she went upstairs!

"Sure!" She put her cup down and clapped her hands.

Why did she have to sound so excited about this? I was torturing myself at this point. I hate Bill for bringing her here and I couldn't wait to go back to Romania to be as far away from her as possible. She was making my brain fuzzy.

"How can I help you?" Her question made me stop staring at her.

"Well, you can help me set this pile by date." I pointed at the pieces of parchment on the left side of the table. "Meanwhile, I'll write the report for Ren."

"Ren?" She lifted her head from the papers and looked at me.

"Our Romanian Longhorn," I explained the name.

"Oh." She chuckled. "I thought you were talking about your girlfriend."

Why did she sound relieved?

"Ehm, no," I said quickly and scratched my head.

The last thing I wanted to do was talk about relationships with her.

"Are you single?" She asked out of the blue.

"Mhm," I mumbled, trying hard to keep my eyes on the report in front of me.

I hope she's not expecting me to ask her the same question. I couldn't see the expression on her face but I could see that she nodded. Why did she even care?

Please stop talking to me and let me bury myself in work so I can stop thinking about you, Rhylee!

—

I pressed my fingers into my eyes, lifting my head and putting down my quill when I heard a tap on the window. It was an owl – a letter in her beak.

"What do you have for me, little friend?" I gently took the envelope from her and rushed to the pantry to get her some treats. "Wait here."

I was so into work that I don't even know when it started snowing. I looked at my watch. 4 hours! We have been working for four hours without speaking. Thank Merlin for that!

However, my family should be back by now.

I grabbed some treats and quickly returned to the kitchen. I gave them to the owl and got a cute hoot in return and then I went to open the letter. I recognized mum's handwriting at once. I rushed through the letter, making sure nothing bad happened to them.

Charlie,

you have probably noticed how much snow has fallen. Ron and Ginny had an idea of us staying in the village for the night.